Trueman blog wins Book of the Year
Published: 17 April 2012

Chris Waters’ Fred Trueman, The Authorised Biography, has won the acclaimed Cricket Society and MCC Book of the Year award for 2012.

Waters’ biography of the great England and Yorkshire fast bowler won him a £3,000 prize – presented at a packed Lord’s Long Room dinner on Monday 16 April.

The victorious Waters was presented with the award by previous winner, acclaimed author and publisher Stephen Chalke in front of an audience of MCC Members, Cricket Society Members and guest journalists and authors from the cricket world.

His victory completed a prestigious double for the Yorkshire Post journalist, who was awarded the Wisden Book of the Year Prize last week.

Waters, who has covered Yorkshire CCC since 2004, dedicated the award to Trueman’s family.

“They were made up that the book was shortlisted for the award in the first place and they had helped me throughout the process."

After being approached by publishers Aurum Press to produce a new work on the life of the first man to reach 300 Test wickets, Waters was surprised at the wealth of information available on ‘Fiery Fred’.

“I was amazed by the amount of new material that I managed to discover – there was plenty to learn about Trueman,” he added.

“I think his presence still looms large around the Club, as it does with many of the other great Yorkshire players.”

Vic Marks, Chair of Judges for the competition, spoke of his admiration for Waters’ work.

He said: “Chris’s book started strikingly with a fly on the wall account of a famous Yorkshire supper and examined Fred’s life and character without ignoring the flaws.”

The competition has been run by The Cricket Society since 1970 and in partnership with MCC since 2009.

Books nominated for the award are put forward by MCC and Cricket Society Members and not publishers.

Scyld Berry, the former Wisden Editor and a past winner of the award, once described it as the “cricket’s seal of literary approval.”

Five books were nominated for the shortlist after being whittled down from 24 by the five-man judging panel.

They were:

Fred Trueman: The Authorised Biography; by Chris WatersFR Foster: The Fields Were Sudden Bare; by Robert BrookeBefore the Lights Went Out: The 1912 Triangular Tournament; by Partick Ferriday Half of the Human Race; by Anthony Quinn; Story of a Cricket Country; by Christopher Ryan